


Sometimes We Run Away, Right Back to the Start

by magnass (PotofCoffee)



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-20
Updated: 2011-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-26 07:39:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/280475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotofCoffee/pseuds/magnass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helen/Nikola. AU. When Dr. Helen Magnus packed up her and her son Henry's lives and moved them across the country in search of a better job and a better life, she wasn't prepared for who she might be re-united with in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Helen Magnus was exhausted. Then again, driving across a good chunk of the country in 6 days would do that to a person.

She sighed, leaning back into the cushions of the hotel bed. Why on earth had she decided to do this again? Oh, right. Better salary, and better hours meant more time to spend with her son and a more secure future for him. Still, though, picking up their entire lives and moving to Vancouver had seemed like such a good idea when Nigel broached the subject in the security of their condo in Toronto. Now faced with a new city and a new life to be built it seemed altogether overwhelming.

She turned her head to look at her boy, sprawled out in the bed beside hers deeply asleep and snoring softly. She smiled, it was all worth it. Anything was worth it for him. 

*

The next morning they woke bright and early, gathering up their things from the hotel and packing into the SUV, which they had spent altogether too much time in over the past week, and drove to their meeting with the Real Estate agent Helen had brokered a deal with. The house wasn't large, and though she would have to commute to and from the hospital each day, the suburb was quite near to the end of the city in which she would be working. And, it was a house. Helen hadn't lived in a real actual    
house   
since before leaving home for school when she was 18. And seeing her son's joy as he discovered the back yard reminded her of what he had been missing out living in their cramped downtown apartment in Toronto. The deal on the house had been brokered months ago through her lawyer in Toronto and so this meeting was a mere formality, allowing Helen to give the house a once-over to ensure it met with her approval and to get the keys.

Soon, the real estate agent was gone and it was time to move into their house.

The place came pre-furnished, another reason why Helen had chosen it: It was nice to know that while they were waiting on the rest of their belongings to be shipped out they would at least have beds to sleep in and a table on which to eat. 

She turned to her son,   
“Well Henry, shall we check out our new home?”   
“Yeah!” he yelled in excitement and reached up to grab her hand, pulling her beside himas they moved through their house.   
The entry-way opened up to a spacious living room on the left, behind which was the kitchen and dining room. On the right was a hallway, which led to a bathroom, a study and the staircase.    
Upstairs they found the master bedroom/en-suite and two other bedrooms one of which would be Henry's and the other a guest room, as well as another bathroom.    
It was a well designed house, the rooms felt spacious and the walls were all painted in soothing mid-tones that Helen felt no need to change, at least for now.   
As many photos as she had seen before purchasing it was a completely different feeling to actually walk through the place, to see their new home in all it's reality and know she had made a good choice.   
This was a new start for them, and as new as everything was, as challenging as the future seemed to be, she was glad.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunday, after a good chunk of their belongings had been unpacked and put away, Helen took a break, pulling her laptop out and smiling when she saw that James was online.  
The video chat was set up and within minutes she saw her dear friend's face smiling at her from the screen.  
“Darling, you're looking incredible”.  
“James, you always were a shoddy liar.”  
“I'm not lying. You always look fantastic. Even when you’re obviously tired as hell.” She smiled, her oldest and dearest friend had always had a way with words.  
“Well I may not agree with you on that, but thank you.”  
“Are you getting settled in well?”  
“Yes we are. Oh James, I'm so glad I took this job when Nigel suggested it to me. You should see Henry, we've only been here for a few days but he seems to love it so much. Having a house, a real house, with a backyard and everything. He just loves being able to run outside and play.” James, with all the wisdom born from years of friendship, caught the tone in her voice  
“Oh shush, you can't honestly think you've done poorly by your boy. You've raised him incredibly well, and you've done so on your own. He is truly a marvelous boy – and on his way to becoming a tremendous young man.”  
“He's wonderful, I know James. Sometimes I can't believe that he turned out so well after everything. It's just, sometimes he does something–tilts his head in a certain manner or gets overly excited about learning something new–and I can't help but see Nikola. And then I begin to wonder what if. You know? What would his life look like if I had told Niko about him.”  
“You did what you had to in the situation, Helen. Nikola wasn't there and the responsibility fell entirely on your shoulders – and you did better than anyone could have imagined.”  
“I know. I had to. I just, I worry about him. I want him to have other good role models – male role models – and he has you and John and Nigel, of course. But you and John are in England and Nigel is constantly travelling and I just -”  
“You worry. I know, Helen. You always have. Even back at Oxford you worried about all of us. Trust me when I say that it will be okay. And if you're that worried, I can see if John and I can make it out there in the summer for a visit.”  
“I would love that. I'm sorry darling, I've been monopolizing the conversation. How have the two of you been?”  
“We've been... Well. We've been doing really well.” As he spoke a light smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and she grinned. It was good to see him happy.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day was Monday. They woke up early - way too early in Henry’s perspective - to give them enough time to get ready. This was it, this was the real test. His first day at school and Helen’s first day at work.  
Helen drove Henry to school, parking nearby at the side of the road.  
“Do you need anything? Do you want me to come inside with you?” She reached out to smooth down the tuft of hair at the front of his head and he slapped her hand away.  
“C’mon Mom! I’ll be fine. I’m not a little baby anymore. He grabbed his bag and was almost out the door of the SUV when he was stopped by the sound of his mother clearing her throat expectantly.   
“I think you’re forgetting something darling.” He turned back with an exaggerated sigh and planted a kiss on his mother’s waiting cheek. “Have fun at school. I love you”  
“I love you too Mom, bye”  
He leaped out of the vehicle, his bag slung over one shoulder, and joined the throng of children moving into the school in general first-day pandemonium.

****

When Helen arrived at work it was closely approaching 8:30. She pulled into the hospital parking lot, and after a last check in the mirror to satisfy herself that her hair and make-up was a pristine as when she had left home.  
She strode into the lobby and quickly located the information desk. She informed the nurse there of who she was and was asked to wait in one of the nearby chairs. Before long a man came up to her and introduced himself as Dr. Øksendal, the head of the cardiology department.  
He was tall - perhaps even taller than John - and broad. He had a full beard that hung about 5 cm below his chin and his hair was long, though tamed back into a ponytail. His accent was fairly thick, though not to the point of being impossible to understand.  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you” she replied as she shook her hand.   
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine, truly. I had the pleasure of meeting your good friend Mr. Griffin at a recent charity gala and he had nothing but good things to say about you.”  
“Oh well, that’s just Nigel. Magnanimous almost to a fault. I’m actually quite surprised there wasn’t a large sign outside proclaiming ‘The Nigel Griffin Charity Hospital’” He chuckled at that.  
“Oh no, I think you’ll see that in his charity work, Mr. Griffin prefers to be the invisible man behind it all.” With that they started on their tour of the hospital.

*****

With not much trouble, Henry was able to locate classroom 34. Leaving his coat in the cubby with his name on it outside, he walked inside. The room held a fair number of students already and as the desks were all small tables with two chairs per desk Henry was forced to choose to sit beside one of his new classmates. He looked around, trying to judge how friendly each student would be, and decided on the place beside a kind looking boy with tousled blond hair and round wire glasses engrossed in the book he held in front of him.   
“Can I sit here?” The boy looked up, startled.  
“Uhhh yeah, Sure.”  
Henry sat down, pulling his bag beneath his chair and turning to the boy beside him once more.  
“I’m Henry.”  
“Will”, the boy replied, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Are you new?”  
“Yup! Just moved here from Toronto.” The boy nodded sagely as though this somehow explained the facts of the universe.

 

*****

“This is your own personal office.”  
“Thank you Dr. Øksendal.”  
“Dr. Magnus, please, call me ‘Biggie’, everyone does.” She grinned at the nickname - it was plain to see how he had come by it.  
“Then you must call me Helen.” He inclined his head with a smile.

*****

Their homeroom teacher strode in at 8:30.  
He was tall and slim and dressed in a very nice looking suit.  
He had a friendly grin and Henry loved how his hair stuck up at odd angles just like his did.  
“Hi guys. My name is Mr. Nick and I’m going to be your homeroom teacher this year. I’ll be teaching you guys all sorts of cool things, but my personal favourite subject is science. Especially electricity.” Henry couldn’t help but be excited, his teacher seemed like a really cool dude. And maybe, just maybe, Mr. Nick could help him with the old ham radio he’d been trying to put back together.

****

Helen left the hospital at 3:00 to be able to pick Henry up. Though once they settled in further he would be taking the school bus, she wanted the chance to be with him after his first day at a new school.

Henry scrambled into the car, looking incredibly happy.  
“Did you have a good first day?”  
“Oh Mom! It was so cool. I met this really nice kid named Will and he really likes to read but he seems really cool and I thought maybe once my xbox gets here maybe he’d like to play with me and oh yeah! We’re gonna be studying electricity this year in science class which is really cool...”  
Helen smiled indulgently as her son babbled along. It was good to hear his first day had gone so well.


	4. Chapter 4

Will and Henry were very much engrossed in a game of Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on Henry’s DS - Will playing and Henry leaning over his shoulder, wincing every time Will did something wrong - when they heard a voice yell out  
“Look out!” Henry looked up in time to see a ball whizizng towards them. He caught it deftly and turned to Will, who had reacted by curling up into a little ball.  
“You okay dude?” Will nodded, pushing his glasses back up his nose. Henry nodded and looked for the person who had thrown the ball their way. A young girl with tan skin and dark hair ran up to them.  
“Sorry!” She exclaimed. Henry shrugged,  
“It’s cool, dude.” and passed her ball back to her. She grinned and took it  
“Thanks.” But instead of running away again immediately as Henry expected she peered over his shoulder trying to get a better look at the DS. “Whatcha guys playing?”  
“Zelda”  
“Oh cool!” She plopped down on Will’s other side without invitation. “I love this game!”  
“Yeah? You’ve played it?”  
“Once. My cousins have a DS and when we saw them this summer they let me play a bit”.  
“Awesome”. Henry nudged Will “Dude. When you’re done this level you should let-” He broke off realizing he didn’t know her name.  
“Kate” the girl supplied.  
“You should let Kate play a bit.”  
“Really?” Kate looked at Will. “You wouldn’t mind?” Will glanced up from the game and shook his head  
“No it’s cool. I’m Will by the way. And this is Henry - it’s his game.”

****

Nick Tesla wasn’t one to pick favourites, per se, but it was hard to ignore the incredible enthusiasm that his new student Henry had when it came to science class. He was a smart kid, and maybe the last name made him pre-disposed to liking him. Nikola chuckled, it had been a long time since he had last met a Magnus, and though he was sure this little boy had no relation to his former lover, he for sure did a double take when he saw the name on his attendance sheets for the first time.  
He shook his head, not wishing to dwell on the past - he had done enough of that before he moved here - and continued with his recess-time rounds.  
He spotted Henry seated on the ground, leaning against the side of the building with 2 other students - Will Zimmerman and a girl Nikola didn’t recognize. They were all hunched over a handheld gaming system and seemed to be having a fantastic time. Nikola smiled, it was good to see the kid making friends, He knew as well as any one that starting a new school in a new city could be hard. And he was well aware of how much easier it was with at least one good friend at your side. He shook his head; _different Magnus_ he reminded himself.


	5. Chapter 5

The first piece of mail they got was, of course, from Nigel. Helen had never quite understood her friend's love of snail mail in times when an e-mail or text could get the job done much more efficiently, but she figured any man as rich as he was bound to have a few eccentricities.  
Taking the postcard out from the mailbox she was glad to see her friend's mischievous sense of humour hadn't diminished over the years. Now that he was such a big name in the world, it was sometimes easy to lose sight of the practical joker she had once known but as she looked down at the postcard in her hands she could clearly picture the glint in his eye he must have had when sending this.  
The postcard was from the French Riviera. The front of the card showed the backs of two girls in bikinis, both missing their tops, and in the space between their bodies could be seen a man, gazing up with a dreamy smile.  
And on the back he had written “Hope you've gotten settled in well. Having a great time, wish you here -and after seeing this card I bet you wish so too.” She sighed and shook her head. Nigel was never, ever going to let her forget the time he had walked in on her making out with that visiting research professor. It wasn’t her fault the woman gorgeous and sexy as hell. What had she studied again? Helen tried to remember. Oh, right. Lemurs.

The next thing to be delivered to their house, were the boxes they had shipped from Toronto.  
The boxes arrived early Saturday morning and Helen and Henry took the whole day unpacking their things. In the first box they found Helen’s precious turntable. Working together, they got it set up quickly and Helen got Henry to choose which record to listen to as they continued unpacking.  
They danced around to the strains of Queen floating through their home as they pulled things out of boxes and tried to decide where to put them.  
However as the strains of “Bohemian Rhapsody” filled the air.  
Helen turned to Henry with a big smile on her face as she began to sing   
“Is this the real life. Is this just fantasy...”  
He waited as she sang ‘her’ part, having done this a hundred times before. Right on cue he jumped in,  
“I’m just a poor boy. I need no sympathy.” Grabbing wooden spoons from the kitchen they used them as fake microphones as they sang what had long ago been deemed their song.  
“Mama! Just killed a man...”  
Helen grabbed Henry’s free hand and spun him around the kitchen, dancing as they sang.  
Their movements were so practiced they were practically choreographed and they leaned towards each other and back in perfect synchronization as they sang   
“Galileo - Galileo”.  
And as the song dwindled to close, they plopped down on the couch, gasping for breath. Helen pulled her boy close to her, taking a moment to just enjoy being together before they got back to work.


	6. Chapter 6

The school year moved along, Henry settled in well at school and Helen got into a good rhythm at the hospital.  
Midway through October came a Parent-Teacher meeting at the school.

Henry and Helen were milling about, waiting for the events of the evening to start.  
“Nick Tesla.” Helen heard an all-too familiar voice behind her.  
She spun around to see him. Standing there casually, dressed anything but (some things never change) and charming the hell out of the parents to whom he spoke. He still looked so young, his movements just as energetic and vibrant as she remembered. She stood there and stared, he hadn't noticed her yet, and even that hurt a bit. Back at Oxford they had always seemed to have this connection. An ability to know when the other was nearby. Alas, apparently that had disappeared along with everything else.  
“Mom?” Henry's voice drew her out of her reverie and she realized she was crushing his hand.  
“Sorry Darling, I was... thinking” she smiled down at him in apology and he immediately forgot all about it, moving forward and tugging her along behind.   
“C'mon! I want you to meet Mr. Nick!” And suddenly all the pieces clicked. Mr.Nick. Nick Tesla. Nikola.  
She composed herself quickly, unwilling to let him see how much this all was affecting her. He was facing the other direction and as they neared him she spoke out  
“Nikola Tesla. What a surprise.” He whipped around and she glimpsed a split-second of unbridled shock on his face before he schooled his features into a mask as flawless as hers.  
“Helen!” He replied with a smooth smile. They stood there for a moment, simply taking in their fill of the other. Neither quite believing what they were seeing.  
Henry looked up at them in confusion,  
“Mommy, how do you know Mr.Nick?” The looked down at her son, clinging to her hand and looking very confused. Nikola's facial expression mimicked that of Henry as he looked between him and Helen, mouthing the word “mother”. Helen kept eye-contact with Nikola as she wrapped her arm around Henry's shoulders, hugging him to her.  
“Henry, Mr. Nick and I are old friends. We went to Oxford together but we haven't seen each other in a very long time.”  
“Oxford?” Henry asked, wide-eyed? His respect for his favourite teacher visibly growing by the minute. “With Uncles James and John? And Uncle Nigel?”Nikola grinned,  
“That's right dude.” Henry giggled at the use of his favourite term. “Now c'mon! What say we show your mom here some of the cool things we've been learning?” Henry's face lit up and he dashed away to a nearby lab-bench that was already set up with demonstrations for the evening's activities, his teacher not far behind.   
Helen followed, albeit slightly slower. She couldn't help the smile on her face from seeing the two of them together. She had never really imagined Nikola as a Father – before Henry they hadn't really been anywhere near that in their relationship, and after Henry she hadn't allowed herself to – and she was amazed at how good he was with Henry. Just the right mixture of boyish enthusiasm and mature monitoring of the situation. Together the two of them set up a reaction to show her, however when it came time for the actual demonstration Nikola kept his mouth closed, allowing Henry to show off what he knew.   
After they were done, Nikola excused himself to talk to some of the other parents, and Helen and Henry moved about the room meeting his friends and their parents.

Later, once all of the speeches and such of the night were done and the children had tired of the company of their parents, choosing to go off and carouse in the hallways instead, Nikola approached Helen, pulling her into a secluded classroom to talk privately.  
“Earlier, Henry, he said... He said 'Uncle James and John'.”  
“Yes he did”  
“So they... You and John?”  
“John and I what?” He looked at her intently and she sighed. “No of course not, Nikola! You know what happened with me and John.”  
“You broke up with him -”  
“”Because he was fucking you and James on the side”  
“There is that. Then again, so were you.”  
“I was not”  
“Really? Because I seem to remember an incident with a deserted science lab and a bottle of wine...” She shoved him.  
“One time. And only with you, not James.” He merely grinned. “Back to the original question Nikola, why would you even ask that.” He shrugged.  
“I don't know. I always thought you and he might get back together and plus... Well, with Henry and all.” She cocked her head, resisting the urge to burst out laughing  
“You think Henry is John's?”  
“Well he's the logical choice, isn't he? No? C‘mon then Helen, who's is he?” She took a deep breath,  
“He's....” her mind began to run through all the possible scenarios of her telling him, telling him he had a son, that he was a father and she had never told him, he could react badly, he could turn his back on Henry, and her son had already formed such a close bond with him. She made a split-second decision “He's mine.”  
“Well what's that supposed to mean? Because as far as I know it takes two-” She broke in. She just wanted to get past this. To never, ever speak of this ever again.  
“I don't know. Okay? It was nobody. Just an insignificant fling.” Nikola was surprised, his instincts told him she would never have just left her child's paternity as such an open question mark. Apparently he didn't know her nearly as well as he thought he did. He looked her in the eyes, in a rare moment of serious honesty  
“Well, you did well, Helen. He's a great kid.” She smiled, and murmured  
“Thank you.”   
They stood there, gazes locked, faces mere inches apart, and for a moment it was as though they were back at Oxford. Back in the classrooms in which they had spent too much time, back in the days when they could simply be with each other and nothing else mattered. She licked her lips slowly, thoughtfully swiping her tongues across her lips as though to go too quickly would be to ruin this moment. She watched him as his eyes traced the path of her tongue and then they were leaning in to each other drawn by a force, a magnetism neither had experienced in, well, 10 years. Their lips were but a hairs-breadth apart, close enough that she could feel his shaky breaths and he could feel the quiver of her lips almost against his own.  
A knock on the door broke the moment and they broke apart immediately. Nikola ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up as he moved to the door and found Henry waiting expectantly on the other side.  
“Mr. Nick! Do you know where my mom is?” Helen brushed past Nikola, walking up to Henry and enveloping him in a big hug.  
“Is it time to go home now?” He nodded. “Very well then, say goodbye to Mr. Nick”  
“Bye Mr. Nick!”  
“And go grab your coat, I'll be right behind you.” He sped off and Helen turned to Nikola. “I... We can't -”  
He smiled sadly.  
“I know, Helen. I'll see you around.” She nodded in acknowledgement and strode off, not trusting herself to speak. They couldn't do this – she couldn't let herself do this again.  
But there was nothing wrong with putting an extra little sway in her walk knowing he was watching her walk away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a note, I'm putting this time-line-wise about mid-November.

Helen strode out of the O.R., stripping off her sweat soaked mask and cap.   
She was exhausted. 8 hours of intensive heart surgery behind her, the patient was finally stabilized and safely ensconced in the ICU.   
She reached the locker room, tossed her scrubs into the laundry basket, and retrieved her cell phone. Turning it on, she was immediately bombarded with notifications. 17 missed calls?    
“Oh bloody hell!” she gasped as she suddenly remembered. “Henry.”   
Today was the day of his class field trip and she was supposed to pick him up - she glanced at the time - 6 hours ago. Silently berating herself, she began to listen to her voicemails.   
“Hi. Ms. Magnus? This is Mrs Collins, from Henry’s school. I’m just calling to remind you that today is the day of Henry’s field trip. I’m here with Henry at the school. If you could give me a call back as soon as possible that would be great, Thanks”   
There were 4 almost identical messages and then.   
“Hello, Helen? It’s me... Nikola. I know that something drastic must have come up for you to be out of contact like this. I hope it’s work and not... ahem. Well. Anyway. I thought you would like to know, I’m taking it upon myself to take him home - to your house, that is. He has a key he says, and I’ll make sure he gets fed and everything. Just... Call when you can, okay? Henry’s getting a bit worried” there was a pause and she could hear him sigh. “And to be honest, so am I.”   
As soon as the message was over she called him back. He picked up on the first ring   
“Helen?”   
“Nikola! I’m so sorry! I got caught up in a very complex surgery, I didn’t think it would take so long but there were complications and, whatever. Is Henry alright?”   
“Breathe, Helen. He’s fine. He was worried but he’s okay. Asleep by now, actually. I think I tired him out - too many games of Mario Kart.”   
“Good. Good. Okay. I’m at my car now. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”   
“Alright. Drive safe.” She was about to hang up when he added “and Helen? I’m... I’m glad you’re okay.” And with that he hung up before she could utter a response.

It was almost 11 by the time she finally walked through the door. Nikola was waiting for her in the foyer, having heard her car pull into the drive. She greeted him absent mindedly, kicking off her shoes and going upstairs to check on Henry. He waited patiently for her - understanding that her son was her first priority. Once she had assured herself that Henry was safe and sound and sleeping peacefully she came back down.   
“Thank you, Nikola. I can’t even begin -”  
“Nonsense. Helen. You were doing what you had to do, and really it was my pleasure. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he’s a great kid.” She smiled.  
“Nonetheless,  thank you .” They stood there for a few moments, until Nikola cleared his throat.  
“Well. Now that you’re home, I’ll be off myself.”  
“Nikola don’t be ridiculous. It’s late, it’s snowing, why don’t you just stay here - I have an as-yet-unused guest room you would be welcome to try out. It’s the least I can do after today” He hesitated, unsure what exactly this offer meant, and if it was really appropriate considering their history.  
“Come on. He's fine. And this way you can help me drink the fabulous Merlot I have in the pantry. I don’t know about you but after the day I’ve had I could sure use a drink.” She smiled, directing those big blue eyes on him and he caved. He couldn’t resist her, he never could, in fact he didn’t know why he even tried.   
“Well how could I pass up an offer like that? And from such a beautiful woman to boot.”  
She moved into the kitchen and he followed. A thought struck him suddenly and as he leaned against the counter he asked  
“When did you last eat?” She thought about it for a moment  
“I had a cup of tea, right before -”  
“ Ate . As in actual food?” He could tell from her facial expression that her eating habits were as bad as he remembered.  
“Breakfast” she murmured.  
“Breakfast? God. You’re as bad as ever, aren’t you? It amazes me that you’ve managed to stay alive this long without someone constantly reminding you to eat.”   
“I eat breakfast. And we all know it’s the most important. And I eat supper - Henry would never let me forget about that. It’s just, lunch sometimes gets forgotten in favour of other, more important things.” She grinned at him playfully, “After all, no one at the hospital kidnaps me for picnic lunches or slyly leaves granola bars in my lab coat pockets.” They smiled together at the memory of how he had named himself her personal caretaker at Oxford.  
“Well, good thing there’s left-over pizza in the fridge.”  
“Pizza? That’s what you call ‘taking care of my child’?”  
“Hey! His choice” He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I just do as I’m told.” She scoffed at that.  
“As if. Meat Lover’s?” She guessed. Nikola nodded. “Of course. I’m sure there wasn’t even a vegetable in sight.  
“He wouldn’t have anything else - I’m afraid you’ve raised a carnivore. Anyway, how are you allowed to berate  me on eating choices?”  
“At least when I do eat I eat properly.” They both laughed, enjoying the camaraderie. Helen grabbed a couple of slices from the fridge and stuck them on a plate while Nikola searched for wine glasses. He grabbed the bottle in his other hand and waited while her pizza warmed up in the microwave.  
Then they moved into her study together, closing the door behind them so as to minimize the amount of noise, neither of them wished to wake Henry.  
Settling on the small sofa she had in there, Nikola poured them each a glass of the wine. Helen lay her plate down on the small table there and moved to the record player, putting on some Bach before joining him on the sofa. He raised the glass to his nose inhaling deeply. Then he swirled the wine around in the glass, examining the rivulets as they streaked down the side. The wine was beautifully clear. As he sipped, he reveled in the full force of flavours against his tongue.  
“Oh. This is  magnificent .” He proclaimed. She smiled: he looked so adorably elated. She reached for her own glass and took a sip - though with less carefully practiced motions than he.  
“Oh that really is lovely, isn’t it?” As she savoured the wine, he snuck a hand down and grabbed a piece of pizza off her plate. He managed to get a bite in before she wrested it out of his grasp.  
“Hey! You already had some!”   
“I know! But I was hungry.” He grinned at her and she noticed he had a spot of pizza sauce on the corner of his mouth. Shifting closer to him, she reached up a hand. Cupping the side of his face gently she used her thumb to wipe the bright red sauce off his face. Then she sucked the thumb into her mouth, cleaning it of the sauce.   
The room was silent. They both sat there looking into each other’s eyes, impossibly close to each other. They broke at the same time, she reached for her half-finished slice as he took a long drink from his glass. But she didn’t move back to her side of the couch. instead she turned her body slightly so that she was leaned up against him and almost instinctively he raised his arm to cradle her into his side.   
He could feel the tension held taught through her body. He drained his glass, setting it down and moved so that his legs were on either side of her and she was leaning against his chest. She was just about to question what he was doing when she felt his strong fingers start to massage her shoulders. She groaned as his fingers sought out each hard knot in her shoulders and slowly but surely worked them out.   
She had forgotten how good he was at this.  
While he patiently and expertly worked the tension out of her shoulders, she finished her wine and pizza.  
Once those were done, she allowed herself to relax even further, allowing all the worries of her day to float free as he worked out all the pain that was inevitable when one spent 8 hours bent over a body on an operating table.   
He massaged her back, sweeping his hands in broad strokes along her lower back, and digging his fingertips into the tendons of her neck and shoulders. It was only when he heard her begin to snore softly that he realised somewhere along the way she had fallen asleep. He leaned back with her still in her arms, he hated to wake her up when she looked this peaceful, but he couldn’t let her sleep on this tiny couch, she would wake up in the morning with a crick in her neck and all his hard work would have been for naught.  
He shook her shoulder gently.  
“Helen. Helen my dear, you’ve got to wake up.” She came to, pleasantly warm ensconced in his arms. She twisted up to look at him, smiling as the memory of the evening came back to her - his taking care of Henry, and then of her, with both the food and the massage - and almost without questioning it she leaned up and captured his lips in a tender kiss.   
He was shocked.  
But not too shocked to respond. As her tongue darted out to tease at his closed lips he willingly opened his mouth allowing her entrance. She twisted in his arms, keeping her lips affixed to his as she moved to straddle his lap.   
After everything, the years apart, the estrangement, his finding out about her kid, nothing it seemed could dampen the attraction between them.  
He moved his hands to gently encircle her waist, his fingers brushing at the skin exposed by her shirt riding up.  
In turn she moved her hands around to the back of his head, fingers entangling in the short hairs at the nape of his neck as their tongues battled for dominance. They broke for a few quick seconds of air before delving right back into each other again. he tugged her more securely onto his lap and she ground her hips into his.  
Then she moved her lips off his and latched at his neck. Unerringly she found the sweet spot beneath his chin and he groaned as she sucked at the skin there.  
He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and tugged it over her head, moving his lips in to tease at the creamy white skin of her chest. She moaned as he mouthed a nipple through the lacy of her bra, tangling her fingers in his hair as encouragement.  
The creak of movement upstairs made them both freeze. As they both listened hard they could hear the sound of someone walking down the stairs.  
“Bloody hell.” Helen retrieved her shirt from the back of the couch and pulled it back on, tugging her clothes back into some semblance of order as Nikola straightened his tie and attempted to pat his hair back into some semblance of order.  
Sure enough, a few moments later the door of the study creaked open and there stood Henry, clad in dinosaur pajamas. When he spotted his mom on the couch he smiled widely and threw himself into her arms.  
“You’re back!”  
“I am! Of course I am!” she hugged him tightly. Once Henry was sufficiently reassured of her presence he turned,  
“Mr. Nick! What are you still doing here?”  
“I offered to let Mr. Nick stay in the guest room so he wouldn’t have to drive home this late.”   
“Oh.” Henry cocked his head to the side, considering this, then smiled “Cool! Does that mean you’ll be here in the morning? You could help me with my radio!” Nikola flicked his eyes up to Helen, silently asking her permission. She gave a barely perceptible nod and he replied.  
“Sounds like a plan.” Henry grinned. Helen stood up with a groan.  
“However, it is time for you to go back to bed, young man. You can talk about this radio business in the morning.”  
Henry sighed in defeat. He knew that this was a battle he was unlikely to win.   
“Can I have a piggy-back ride upstairs?” Before Helen could reply, Nikola was bending over, allowing Henry to scrabble up onto his back.  
Soon they had Henry safely tucked back in. After Helen had leaned down and given him a goodnight kiss, Henry looked past her towards his teacher, who was standing in the doorway. He gave him an expectant look which was replaced by a satisfied smile after Nikola leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead.  
They bade him goodnight and turned off the light, closing the door behind them.  
Once back in the hallway Nikola opened his mouth to speak but Helen beat him to it.   
“I’ll just... go prepare the guest room for you. It’s really past our bedtimes too.”  
He nodded, following her to the linen closet.   
After they had made the bed, Helen handed him an over-sized T-shirt she had found in the bottom of her wardrobe for him to sleep in.   
She paused at the door.  
“Goodnight Nikola” she murmured. He cupped her cheek in his hand and leaned in, placing a deep, tender kiss on her lips.   
“Goodnight Helen”. 


	8. Chapter 8

Helen rolled over, cracking an eye open to glance at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 9:00, it read and Helen scrambled out of bed. She hadn’t slept this late in a long time and she was surprised Henry hadn’t come looking for her at some point.Grabbing her housecoat off its hook on the door, she wrapped it securely around herself and headed downstairs.   
Half-way down the staircase she heard Nikola

“See. The problem is your power supply, here, is too close to your RF tuner, this thing here.”   
“Okay.”   
“So what could you do to help with that?”   
“Uhhh. Physically shield the tuner? To stop the interference?”   
“Exactly! Okay, let’s see, what have we got here that would work?”   
Helen walked into the family room to find Henry and Nikola both seated on the floor, surrounded by innumerable pieces of metal and electronics, and closely examining the radio they had placed on the coffee table.   
At the sound of her entrance, Nikola looked up and smiled. His eyes raked over her body appreciatively and she knew he was considering what if anything, she might be wearing under there. She gave him a chiding look and moved into the kitchen. She moved to the tea pot, removing the cozy to dump the tea left over from the day before and was shocked to find the pot boiling hot. She looked inside to find the tea ball steeping. She stirred the ball around the pot before removing it and pouring herself a cup. She leaned against the wall at the entrance of the living room, sipping her tea and watching her boys.  The boys , she corrected hastily: She had lost all claim to Niko years ago. And, she amended, he wasn’t really a boy anymore. He held the same youthful enthusiasm that had imbued his every move at Oxford but, she considered as her eyes raked over his body clad in yesterday’s trousers and button-down, he was undeniably all man now.    
He could feel her gaze and looked up, unsure of how to interpret the soft smile on her face.He got up, leaving Henry fiddling with some wires and walked over to her.   
“You know, he may very well be the brightest 10 year old I’ve ever met. And seeing as I know me, that’s quite a compliment” She smiled, ignoring his shameless ego and taking the compliment for what it was worth.    
“Care to help me with breakfast?” She turned to go to the kitchen before he could reply and with a last glance back to check that Henry was still engrossed in his project, he followed.

He slid behind her, trapping her against the counter and she shivered at his warm breath on the back of her neck.   
“Nikola” she said in a warning tone. And she could  sense his smirk.   
“What? I’m not doing anything.” She shook her head at his impertinence and pushed him away slightly so she could turn around and look him in the eyes.    
He was flush against her once again as soon her back was to the counter and she couldn’t resist dropping a quick kiss on his lips.   
He deepened the kiss insistently and it took her a few long moments to remember that this was supposed to be a quick, short kiss and she had things to say.   
“Nikola. It’s... I haven’t. With Henry I’ve always been working so hard to not get involved with anyone. In case he got attached too and then it ended.”   
“There hasn’t been anyone?” She shrugged.   
“No, there have been... A few. Just no one I ever brought home. None of them ever met Henry, let alone got to know him. And his friendship with you, it’s good for him. And I don’t want to destroy that.” He tried to butt in, but she wasn’t done. “I mean, I’ve often wished for him to have some sort of Father figure in his life. That was always something I couldn’t give him.”   
“Helen. Helen, look at me. Do you honestly think that having a husband could have improved the job you did raising him? So what if he didn’t have a dad? He had you. And Helen you did a phenomenal job. Better than most couples, I dare say. Henry doesn’t  need a father figure. But he has got me. I’ll be his friend, his mentor, whatever he needs. And that’s separate from whatever we once had, or could possibly have again.”   
She smiled, Nikola had always had this  way of snapping her back to reality.    
“You promise?” He nodded and ducked his head in to kiss her but she turned her head sharply so that the kiss landed on her cheek rather than her lips. “I. Nikola, I want this. But I don’t want to move too quickly. Oxford was... so very long ago.” He nodded in understanding.   
“So what you’re saying is I shouldn’t be expecting a repeat of last night?” She sighed.   
“Not any time soon.” He smiled softly, he could live with that.   
“Alright, well let’s get this breakfast started, shall we?”


End file.
